Ok guys heres my problem:

Everybody that replied to me in my thread below has helped me out IMMENSELY, but I still have a problem. People have said that I need to eat 3,835.49 calories a day to get to where I want to be (the pictures in my thread below). However, I emailed Dr. Ellington Darden, the creater of the Bowflex Body Plan. He said that he wouldn't think I should be going to or above 3000 calories a day. I told him how I wanted to go on a bulk and gave him my routine and everything. So now I ask you all...what should I do? Should I eat the 3,849 for my bulk, or should I eat 2500 calories per day? Remember, I'm 6'1 and weigh ~173 pounds and I am 19 (2 and 1/2 months from 20) years old.

Heres my routine since I'm bulking:

During the week:
20 minutes cardio in the morning
at least 1 hour of lifting in the late-afternoon/evening with 4 exercises for each different muscle group for that day (never working the same muscle group twice in a week)
taking Bowflex Muscle Maintenance system
eating all the foods I should be....lean steak, salmon, salads, organic/soy based dressings (very low of everything, I make sure), soy milk, whole grains/wheat...


Anybody that can help me figure out what is BEST...I would greatly appreciate it!!


**EDIT**

By the way, I do 45 min. cardio on the weekend without lifting. Also...should I take the muscle maintenance supplements on the weekend, or just save those for the week?

The whole fact that you are quoting 3835.49 tells me there is a problem. Why? Because calories aren't that precise. There are so many errors built into equations and even what's on your food labels (yes, food labels are allowed a 20% variation ... that means your 100 calorie meal might be 80 or might be 120, AND they are allowed to round the average).

So 3800 or 3900 is a good target, but 3835.49 is splitting hairs and is like saying you are 5'10.432452345234523452345" inches tall.

I really don't see why people spend so much time with the equations. At 3800 calories I would blow up and look like my "before" picture, even though certain formulas have me eating as much as 4200 calories.

The key is to establish a baseline. Throw the analytical computations that are good on paper but not really much to look at in real life out the window, and go for something real. The question is ...

a) what ARE you eating, on average, each day, and
b) what is your scale weight doing

Put the two together, and you know your metabolism. THEN you can start to raise or lower calories.

How much?

Most people erroneously believe 500 calories per day extra will build a pound of muscle. Not true. 500 calories a day is what goes into a pound of fat. Muscle is far different than fat, and there is no set formula. That's because no one knows for certain how much energy actually goes into growing muscle tissue, or even how it works exactly. Protein is also less calories than fat, so a pound of muscle tissue yields fewer calories ... but again, it's not so much the raw material, but the work.

So the solution is simple ... get your baseline. Adjust your calories until you are maintaining your weight with your current workout routine. That's ground zero. Forget the equations, books, and theories, and focus on what is REALLY happening in the REAL WORLD. The calories you consume to stay the same weight are exactly your maintenance.

Now, increase them a little. Train hard. Repeat.

That's it.

Measure your growth.

Going too slow? Increase them a little more. Too much fat? Pull them back.

Jeremy
Ok guys heres my problem:

Everybody that replied to me in my thread below has helped me out IMMENSELY, but I still have a problem. People have said that I need to eat 3,835.49 calories a day to get to where I want to be (the pictures in my thread below). However, I emailed Dr. Ellington Darden, the creater of the Bowflex Body Plan. He said that he wouldn't think I should be going to or above 3000 calories a day. I told him how I wanted to go on a bulk and gave him my routine and everything. So now I ask you all...what should I do? Should I eat the 3,849 for my bulk, or should I eat 2500 calories per day? Remember, I'm 6'1 and weigh ~173 pounds and I am 19 (2 and 1/2 months from 20) years old.

Heres my routine since I'm bulking:

During the week:
20 minutes cardio in the morning
at least 1 hour of lifting in the late-afternoon/evening with 4 exercises for each different muscle group for that day (never working the same muscle group twice in a week)
taking Bowflex Muscle Maintenance system
eating all the foods I should be....lean steak, salmon, salads, organic/soy based dressings (very low of everything, I make sure), soy milk, whole grains/wheat...


Anybody that can help me figure out what is BEST...I would greatly appreciate it!!

Honestly, it sounded a bit high, but you said you figured out your BMI and then how many calories you need for bulking and ... well, I'm not checking your math for you, you know?

Anyway, everything Jeremy said was great advice, as usual. This isn't all going to come to you over night. It takes time to learn to listen to your body.

Personally, I think the most important thing for you to do right now is come up with a plan and try it for a little while, then change it as necessary. If the plan is way off (too many calories, too few calories, too much exercise, etc), I think you'll be able to tell pretty quickly. But you won't know what you need to do until you get in there and actually really give something a shot.

It's impossible to tell exactly how many calories you should be eating, even if a calorie was precise, because you can't tell precisely how many calories your body requires in a day. Your activity level and metabolism will not be the same as other people who are the same weight and height as you, and your daily calorie needs will vary a fair amount based on the activities that you do each day. There's no exact science to cutting or bulking. If two people just like you followed the exact same diet and exercise program, you would not end up with the same results.

I didn't read the thread you referenced, but even 3000 calories sounds like a lot. At 173 pounds, your maintenance calories might be somewhere near 173x15=2595. More than 1000 extra calories per day sounds like too many. However, I'm not you, so you do what you need to do.

I think that the general consensus between what you all have said, the Dr. I emailed, and some people I spoke with is that I should try 2500 calories to start off with first. Give it some time, and if I start losing weight then up it a good amount, and if I just maintain then I should just up it a moderate amount.

By the way...just because I'm curious, should I take this (creatine) (http://www.champion-nutrition.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Creatine) along with this (muscle maintenance) (http://www.bowflex.com/which/WAcc_Supplements_Stack_Detail.asp?productID=70404&productName=Muscle+Maintenance+Program&linkID=)? Or is that too many supplements?

Thanks!!

I think that the general consensus between what you all have said, the Dr. I emailed, and some people I spoke with is that I should try 2500 calories to start off with first. Give it some time, and if I start losing weight then up it a good amount, and if I just maintain then I should just up it a moderate amount.

By the way...just because I'm curious, should I take this (creatine) (http://www.champion-nutrition.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Creatine) along with this (muscle maintenance) (http://www.bowflex.com/which/WAcc_Supplements_Stack_Detail.asp?productID=70404&productName=Muscle+Maintenance+Program&linkID=)? Or is that too many supplements?

Thanks!!

Buy Darden's book The Bowflex Body Plan and follow all his advice. It will answer all your questions with best answers.